A impromptu Trial in Gotham. It felt strange to be at a courthouse again. A spectator, that is, like an old lawyer getting one more conviction.
I ran into Batman at the front entrance fighting Dent's lackeys. I lend him a hand taking care of the last two. Using my stealth training, I sneaked behind the two and grabbed their hairs from behind. "Good dogs don't bite!" I smashed theirhead into each other taking them out for the moment.
"Ever heard of saying thank you?"
"I did the most of the work. Who are you?"
"A friend, by the way have you found Wayne."
"I did, found him outside the Ace chemicals building, he told me what strange did to him and he said that you were captured as well. After that, I got him out of Ark ham city. So what are you doing here?" Batman asked
I sighed knowing that Batman wanted an honest answer: "He knows about my family secret."
"Which is?"
"Let me show you." I rolled up the sleeve to show my tattoo on my forearm. Batman recognized it, not at first but eventually he did.
"That's the insignia of the League of Assassins. Do you know Talia?" he asked with some suspicision, he didn't like where this was going.
"You could say that, she trained me personally but I left on my own terms something that Ra's wasn't too happy about it." I didn't want him to know that I'm her brother or RA's son just yet, want to gain his trust first. So I stretched the truth. He seemed to buy it for now, that I know for sure.
"Now listen, as much as I love to talk about my past, now it's not the time. So I'll make you a deal, we work together to stop Protocol 10 and prevent Strange in the process. You stay out of my business and I'll stay out of yours, ok?"
"Fine but if you're trying to screw me, I'm taking you down too." Batman stated after some consideration.
"Fair enough, now we have a damsel to save, Dark Knight." I said as we entered the courthouse.
In the courthouse we ran up the stairs and saw what was taking place in the main courtroom from an upper level window. There we saw Two face conducting his own brand of justice.
"Bring out the defendant!" Two Face declared. Soon enough Catwoman was brought hanging upside down below a vat of acid bath.
"You certainly know how to keep a girl Harv. Hey have you had some work done?" Catwoman teased.
That pissed him off and she earned a bitch slap for that remark. I never liked a man hitting on woman like that and I never will.
"That's for stealing from us. No one steals from us!" Two Face snarled leering into her face.
"I'm sorry I've been s bad kitten, untie me and I'll make it up to you."
I shook my head with a smile. Typical Catwoman.
"Let's see if the coin thinks you're telling the truth."
'Uh-oh' he flipped his coin and saw what it landed he stated.
"This court is now in session."
Time to end this. We climbed up the ladder and saw a guard with a rifle; he was too busy watching court to noticing us. "Stay here, I got this." Batman nodded. So I snuck up from behind and put him in a sleeper hold, when he was out, I gestured B-man to follow me. "So what you do think, time to crash the party?"
He didn't answer. "Tough crowd." I muttered as we walked on a very tight rope. Batman jumped and glide kicked one of the thugs. I did same thing. The fight was on while some of them cowardly ran the out of there.
"Our friend Batman and his has arrived. Cut'em in two!" Like that would happen. We beat them with ease, they never stood a chance.
"Objection!" He shot us both. Luckily I wore my vest, but it still hurts like a bitch. As far as Batman, he'll be fine.
"Overruled." He walked to Catwoman with the gun barrel aimed at her head.
"Heads or tails, kitty cat?"
"Which one let's me out of here alive?" He flips the coin once more and said...
"Not this one. Time to die."
"I'll vote for a stay of execution." Catwoman broke free and makes a big ass cut across his face.
"No gun, Harv? Shame, This is going to hurt." She pulled out her claws but Dent drawn his second gun quickly.
"Two guns, bitch!" before Two-Face pulled the trigger, Batman grappled him and tied him in the process. What can I say about him? He's always one step ahead. Anyway, he grabs Two-Face and let go of him hanging above the tank of acid. "And I thought it was cats who had nine lives." Catwoman went up to the platform.
"How's it hanging, Harv?" She kicked him right across his stomach. And grabbed the PDA from his pocket and put it in a place I rather not reveal.
Batman helped me get back on my feet. It was a nasty shot. "You okay?"
I nodded, rubbing my sore chest. "I'm alright. God it hurt."
"Well, aren't you full of surprises?" Catwoman mused walking down the steps to meet.
"We figured you could use our help, Selina." Batman said.
"You're right, I think I chipped a nail back there." Catwoman. I sighed with an eye roll. Really? Flirting? Now.
"Cute but we're not in the mood for banter, Selina." I said interrupting it. "What do you know about Protocol 10?"
"Never heard of it." Catwoman shrugged.
"What about Strange then? Surely he must've slipped his tongue about it."
"I don't know." Catwoman admitted. "I don't trust him, he's been missing for years. All of the sudden, he's been put in charge of Arkham City. Rumour has it he's been working with Joker. Maybe that's Protocol 10."
I quickly dismissed the thought. Strange would never work with a psychopath like Joker. When Strange interrogated me, he said that protocol 10 will do something that Batman failed to do, kill the bad guys every single one of them in ArkhamCity. How is the question?
"Anyway, the ex-district attorney said something…" Catwoman was interrupted as Batman saved her from being shot by a sniper. I quickly looked around to see where it came from. "This place is dangerous, I like it. You expecting a kiss?"
"It was Joker. You're not safe here, no one is." Batman said.
"Nine lives remember?" Catwoman reminded Batman about it and turned around to look me.
"By the way didn't catch your name, handsome." She said with her trademark smirk.
"Because I didn't give it."
"Well whoever you are stranger, I'm liking you already." With that she has left the building.
"Well, that was a bust." I said.
"Not entirely." Batman said piquing my curiosity. "I've got a lead on where the shot came from."
I stared at him incredulously. "How?"
"I have my ways."
The local church was the primary location of where the Sniper took the shoot. It took only a few minutes to get there. I looked up to see a airplane descending to land.
Coming into Gotham Airport. Get right on to Newark pal, don't look back. With that in mind, we entered the church. There were Joker's men all armed and they had some hostages. "Coming through, B-man." Harley Quinn tried to attack us but it backfired and she landed on her ass. Talk about epic failure, she was never that bright.
"Let the lady go, Bat-freak or all these people get a bullet in their heads."
"I think you should do what he says. It would be shame to ruin my nice new outfit. What do you think, Bat-brain? Do you like it? Of course you do, who wouldn't?" I rolled my eyes at that as Harley circled around and taunted us.
"Well, I can easily see why Joker loves you, because you are the poster girl for a definition called: blonde girl goes dumb. " I said with a smirk, which Harley returned with a glare.
"Shut up. Anyway, Mistah J is not up to a visit right now, because the doctors didn't help, I've seen better work from these bozos. Gotta run boys, if they try something funny, kill them." With a blowing kiss, she left the church. We can't attack them immediately, too risky. Batman and I shared a look. "Your call, B-man."
He nodded slightly and threw a smoke grenade causing the thugs to panic and then we went separate ways. He was on one of those gargoyles, and I was behind the confessional. I heard a thug behind the wood paneling with a hostage. I took him down quickly and turned to the hostage that happens to be a female medical attendant. "Stay here and don't make a noise." I whispered and she nodded quickly and I used my grapple gun to get to a gargoyle. I looked around and saw Batman taking care of the guy in the scaffolding so I went to another gargoyle saw two of them so I landed right behind, sneaked up and smashed their heads, knocking them out.
"The room is secure, you're safe now." Batman declared as we regrouped.
Officer Cash who joined the GCPD after the incident at the Arkham Asylum was grateful to hear "Hey guys, thanks for the help."
I went to check out one of the doctors, "hey are you alright?"
"I'm fine, I think I'm broke my ankle."
"Can I check it, just in case?"
"I don't know." The doctor hesitated, can't blame her you know, to her I'm a stranger
"Don't worry doc, you're in safe hands." I assured and examined her foot and it turned out it wasn't broken. "Ok, your foot isn't broken, just badly sprained. You should be fine."
"Thank you. It seems that you had experience with this."
"You could say that." I said with a smirk that made her blush. I went to Batman who was talking one of the officers named Cash by the front door.
"Thank God you got here, Batman."
"After what happened at the Asylum, I thought you settled for a quiet desk job." Batman said, referring to the events that occurred on Arkham Island several Months back.
"Yeah, right. When Sharp closed down the asylum, it wasn't much job offers for an ex security guard who failed to stop a mass breakout. This is the only work I can get."
"Hey, what happened back there wasn't your fault, Officer Cash. What was Harley Quinn doing here?" I asked.
"That bitch came here a couple of hours ago with the rest of these idiots. Then she went to tower, took something there and blew up the staircase."
"Thanks, we'll check it out." Batman said heading before Cash stopped him.
"Wait, sorry guys, I forgot. They also grabbed one of the docs. Harley said something about needing her to fix up the Joker."
"If she's alive, we'll find her. You should focus on securing this church, it should keep you all safe."
"Will do, her name's Stacy Baker, she's one of the good ones."
We went to the tower and found the sniper rifle; it was hooked to some TVs and timers. "There's the gun, it looks like it'sbeen controlled remotely by Joker." Batman mused as I examined the rifle. All of sudden Joker's face popped up on TV screens. To be honest, seeing him for the first time in person, makes my skin crawl. The Clown Prince of Crime.
"Well, look who it is, I haven't seen you since, how long it's been?" Then Joker noticed me. "Oh. You have brought a playmate for me, Bats? I'm flattered."
Joker got lost in thought. "Now where was I? Oh yes. There was an asylum, some monsters, oh, that's right you left me to die." Joker sneered. "Now you probably don't remember it that way but who cares? You just need to worry about the bombs." Oh boy, this can't be good. "Hurry up now, clock's ticking." We wasted no time to get the hell out of there, wejumped through the windows as the tower blew, Batman gilded and me, well I activated my boosters on my shoes and flew literary until I landed on one of the buildings nearby the church. I took a minute to catch my breath as batman re-joined.
"That wasn't fun." I remarked on being almost blown to bits.
"It is for the Joker." The Batman pointed out. "Unfortunately for him, I got a fix on the signal from the remote Sniper Rifle. It's emitting from the Old Steel Mill."
The Steel Mill used to be owned by Roman Sionis, and was used as a front for his criminal empire when he was controlling Gotham's criminal underworld at a time where Gotham wasn't as crazy. But due to Batman's appearance and Joker's hostile takeover, it all changed. The Old Guard was kicked to curb so hard that he still struggle to climb to the top including the Falcones.
"Was that ever any doubt?" that voice, it sounded so familiar. '"Alfred?'"
"The signal should lead us right to him."
"Us?" the voice asked in wonder.
"Jericho's with me." Batman informed.
I tapped into my own earpiece as Shawn relayed the . "Hey Alfred. So You've been moonlighting as a side kick for the Batman or should I stay, Bruce?"
It all made sense now. The Gotham Billionaire playboy was playing dress up at nights. Batman tensed slightly at my deduction. "Relax, I won't tell anyone about it. Why ruin all your efforts to protect my town so that I can get 15 minutes of fame?"
Regaining his focus, Batman decided to move on. "Let's move to the Steel Mill. We don't have much time." We were there in matter of minutes. But the place was heavily guarded with Joker's men. So we snuck up on a rail and got up on one of the transmission towers. "Alright, we can't go through the front door, too easy. So the only way in is, uh no" I realised when I saw the main chimney. It's suicide written all over.
"The main chimney, ok then." Batman said like it wasn't bothering him. We used our grapple guns, dived in the chimney and landed on a tight rope. And then we made our way to the cooling tunnels and saw a big room filled with joker's men, and the poor doctor Stacy Baker was held captured by no other then queen dumb herself, Harley. "I promised some entertainment boys." Harley announced.
"Please I tried my best." Doctor Baker begged but to no avail.
"Well you should've tried harder!" She threw the doc into lion's den and she was in big trouble. "Harley."
"Coming Mistah J." We went further in the cooling tunnels and watched Stacy trying to escape from a seven feet tall monster and he had clown makeup on. "Help me!" Stacy pleaded, it broke my heart to see her like this. When Hammer was about finish her off with a huge sledgehammer, Quinn intervened just in time.
"Change of plans, take her to the smelting chamber. Mistah J wants this to suffer a little longer." I let out a sigh of relief, too close to comfort. Then some of the henchmen left the room with the doctor heading to the smelting chamber.
"How many are they?" I asked.
"12 thugs. This is going to be easy."
"Showtime." We popped up and took two men down.
Harley scowled at our unexpected presence. "Well, if it isn't Bat-brain and , put them into sleep, permanently." We took 6 each when two tried to punch me from behind but I ducked it and did corkscrew which involved a punch and kick. I threw a flash bang and it temporarily stunned them. Batman took advantage of that and managed to take out 3 of them. One of them threw a punch but I countered it and twisted his arm dislocating the shoulder. After a while, they were down to two so we punched them at the same time. Knockout. Then Harley showed up not happy that we were still around. "What the hell are you doing here? You're supposed to be dead!"
"I know, shocking right." I said in mocking horror.
"Well, there is no way of you coming up here, so you two can stand down there and burn." She spat as she went back in the manager's workplace. "Who died and made you queen?" I muttered. We went to smelting chamber where she was held up in the office tied to a chair, my glasses also detects body temperature. I counted 5 of joker's men there all armed while one of them guarded the doc. We decided to split up, so we covered more ground. I took out two of them on the ground as b-man took the other two from a gargoyle. We went silently to the officer and I threw another flashbang, batman took him down immediately. I untied her quickly. "Can you stand?" Batman asked gently.
"Give me a second. Crazy people, they think I can fix the Joker." Stacy told us.
"What's wrong with him?" I asked.
"It's something in his blood, it's killing him, some kind of toxin. He blames something called TITAN."
"TITAN?" Batman and I asked in unison.
"Yeah, do you know what's he talking about? He keeps saying about his last laugh."
"Ah, Ah doc. Isn't that information supposed to be confidential?" Harley's voice said through a doll. For the record, that was creepy.
"What's going on here? How does she know we're saying?"
"Keep that door nice and tight, we don't want those vermins to escape now, do we?" While they were busy shutting the front door,Batman had built some sort of remote charge. "Jericho, get her out of Steel Mill, I'm going after Joker myself."
"Not a problem, I'll come back to Steel Mill when it's done." I turned to the medic. "follow me, doctor." She followed me to one of the rooms when I contacted Shawn, "Shawn, meet me at Warehouse 5b in the Falcone shipping yard. I want you to escort a doctor out of Arkham City."
"What about Batman?"
"He'll be fine."
"Ok then. I'll be right there." He said and we moved to the warehouse to see Shawn. Little did I know that somebody was watching me from the roof of an apartment building.
"Hello, brother."